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Anna Etheridge
Lorinda Anna "Annie" Blair Etheridge (1839 – 1913) was a Union nurse and vivandière who served during the American Civil War. She was one of only two women to receive the Kearny Cross. Anna Etheridge was born Lorinda Anna Blair in 1839 in Wayne County, Michigan. In 1860, Anna married James Etheridge.Leonard, Elizabeth D. All the daring of the soldier women of the Civil War armies. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1999. PP.106 At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Etheridge enlisted in 2nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment, serving as a nurse and Vivandiere (Daughter of the Regiment). She had wanted to nurse, having cared for her father before his death. Before the war, Etheridge worked in a hospital with a poor reputation for patient care, which she had attempted to improve. Etheridge was famous for her courageous work under fire. She was noted for removing wounded men from combat. Ethridge embodied the idea daughter of the union. She was "brave, constant, tender possessed nerves of steel, and willing to join the fight as necessary, encouraged the men to greater valor, or remained in the rear treating wounds" Leonard, Elizabeth D. All the daring of the soldier women of the Civil War armies. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1999. PP.113 In 1862 all women were ordered out of camp by General George B. McClellan temporarily Hall,Richard. Patriots in disguise women warriors of the Civil War. New York: Paragon House, 1993. PP. 35. "Gentle Annie" then worked for the Hospital Transport Service, a subcommittee of the U.S. Sanitary Commission Hall,Richard. Patriots in disguise women warriors of the Civil War. New York: Paragon House, 1993. PP. 36. Assigned to the Knickerbocker, under Amy M. Bradley, she aided in the transportation of wounded men from the ports of Alexandria, VA to Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington.Hall,Richard. Patriots in disguise women warriors of the Civil War. New York: Paragon House, 1993. PP. 36 However, she rejoined the 2nd Michigan regime off the shore of Harrison's Landing for the remainder of the war Hall,Richard. Patriots in disguise women warriors of the Civil War. New York: Paragon House, 1993. PP. 40 For her work and courage, she received the Kearny Cross.Hall,Richard. Patriots in disguise women warriors of the Civil War. New York: Paragon House, 1993. PP. 36 After the war she married and worked in the Treasury Department, eventually receiving a monthly pension of $25 for her unpaid military service. She died in 1913 and was buried with veteran's honors in Arlington National Cemetery.Jill, Canon. Civil War Heroines. Santa Barbara, CA: Bellerphon Books, 2000. Gentle Annie: The True Story of a Civil War Nurse, written by Mary Francis Shura, is a “fictionalized biography” of Anna Etheridge. References * *Hall,Richard. Patriots in disguise women warriors of the Civil War. New York: Paragon House, 1993. PP. 36 *Leonard, Elizabeth D. All the daring of the soldier women of the Civil War armies. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1999. External links *Elder, Daniel K. "Remarkable Sergeants: Ten Vignettes of Noteworthy NCOs", Center for the Advanced Studies of the US Army Noncommissioned Officer, April 30, 2003. (URL accessed on November 8, 2008). * Category:1839 births Category:1913 deaths Category:American Civil War nurses Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Category:People of Michigan in the American Civil War Category:Place of death missing